Golf putting game receptacle



3, 1950 w. BARNETT GOLF PUTTING GAME RECEPTACLE Filed May 3, 1948 Patented May 23, 1 950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GOLF PUTTING GAME RECEPTACLE William Barnett, Brattleboro, Vt-- Application May 3, 1948, Serial No. 24,838"

8 Claims.- (01. 273-35) This invention relates to golf putting game receptacles, and particularly is adapted for indoor use on a carpet, rug or floor, but also may be used out-of-doors on a grassy or other suitable smooth, level surface.

One object of this invention is to provide a golf putting device which requires the same degree of skill in putting as must be exercised on an actual green of a golf course.

A further object of this invention is to provide a golf putting game receptacle in which the ball rolls upon and over a substantially continuously level and constant textured surface of the same or similar material and elevation from the start of the put to the finish.

Another object of this invention is to provide 9. putting device in which all parts thereof that come into contact with the ball to change its course of travel while rolling, with the exception of the backstop proper, are flexible.

A further object of this invention is to provide a golf putting game device which, when a ball is putted from any angle up to 45 will enter the runway at which it is aimed.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a golf putting device provided with archways that stand out distinctly as a sight guide to the putter and which respectively approximate, from a sight standpoint, an actual golf putting cup.

Another object of this invention is to provide a golf putting device that is provided with an illu- Y minating means so constructed that there are no shadows cast by or upon the device regardless of the position in which the player may be standmg.

A further object of this invention is to provide a golf putting device that, when assembled,can be disassembled and readily re-packed into a single compact unit for storing the same and which when packed, the rigid backstop will give protection to the flexible and readily breakable parts, such as runway guides, sight guides, lamps, etc

. An example of the device embodying this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the assembled golf putting game receptacle embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view showing the assembly of the flexible guideways and arches; and

Fig. 4 is a rear exploded perspective view of the 2 receptacle shown in Fig. 1 showing the backstop removed from the flexible guideways.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral 5 designates an upright, rigid back support which may be made of metal, plastic or wood, and is rectangular in shape in the form shown in Figs. 1 and 4. Each end of the rigid back support 5 is provided with brackets B and l which are attached thereto by means of screws or other fastenings 8. The brackets 6 and 1 are each provided with inwardly offset ends 9, that are spaced apart from the front surface of the upright support 5.

A suitable number of transverse notches ill are provided along the lower edge of the rigid support 5, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and into each of these slots is inserted one end of a flexible runway guide or finger H which serves as one side of a guide or runway for a golf ball. The flexible fingers II are freely suspended and are bevelled at the free ends l2, as best shown in Fig. 1.. These fingers l I are provided at the opposite ends thereof with lips [3 formed at right angles to the flexible members II. The lips l3 embrace the back support 5 to aid in holding the fingers 'II in place. Screws, nails or rivets I4 secure the lips 13 to the back lower surface of the upright support 5, as best shown in Fig. 4.

To both ends of the back support 5 are attached additional flexible fingers l5, and which are held in place by means of screws, nails, rivets or other fastenings It, as shown.

The fingers II are spaced apart and with the fingers [5 provide a plurality of runways therebetween adapted to receive the golf ball in practice.

The flexible fingers II and 15 may be made of any suitable material such as spring steel, p1astic or the like, provided they have suflicient rigidity so as to withstand the shock of a lightly stroked or putted golf ball, but are sufficiently flexible so as to absorb the majority of the percussion or blow from the ball. Inasmuch as in the operation and use of this game these fingers will receive considerable abuse, it has been found preferable to use flexible fingers of good spring steel and which has a high fatigue point.

An archway, designated generally by the nu meral H, is anchored at its opposite ends to the flexible runway guides or fingers E55, by backturned ends l8 and 1-9, as shown in Fig. 1. The ends it and is of the archway I! may be secured to the outer ends of the fingers 65 by rivets 20,

as shown, or may be secured by other fastenings or welded or crimped, as desired.- The flexible};

archway I! may be made of a suitable flexible material, such as steel, plastic or the like, and should also have the same rugged and flexible qualities as the members H and [5.

The archway H, as shown, is made up of a plurality of individual arcuate sections 2| which abut each other laterally at 22. The several individual sections 2| may be formed of one integral piece of flexible strip metal or may be riveted or welded together, if desired. The abutting and connected edges 22 of the individual sections 2| are located in alignment with ends I2 of the several fingers II, in vertical planes extending lengthwise of said fingers.

A hole 23, as shown best in Fig. 2, is provided adjacent the bottom edge of the abutting connection 22 in each of the individual sections 2i, and through each of the holes 23 is threaded and suspended a swinging pin 24 which is in the form of a U-shaped pin formed by wire that has the sides thereof pressed together along the length of the pin and is provided witha suit'able loop at the closed end, as shown in Fig. '1, so as to permit the pin 24 to swing .freely in the hole 23. The pins 24 are suspended and swing freely in alignment with the free ends of the :fingers H, but are spacedthereirom a sufiicient-distance so that in swinging they'do not contact the bevelled edges 12 and hang thereon.

The numeral '25 designates generally a backstop which is made ofmetal, plastic or wood, and is'of just asufic'ient thickness so as to fit slidably but snugly in the brackets 6 and 1 between the back member and the ends -'8. As shown in Fig. l, the-backstop tfipreferably'should be of the same width 'as the rectangular support 5, and preferably is made -'of a height which just equals the distance between the inside of the rigid back support 5 and the inside of the "flexible archway H to facilitate packingas will be explained hereinafter.

The backstop '25 is provided with suitable indicia 2S which'represent the 'conventional scorin of a golf putt, such as the numerals 1, 2 and 3, as shown. The indicia :are repeated from side to-side with the lowest numeral in thecenter.

.An electric lamp 2'! '(Fig. -2) is provided on the backstop 25 in the center thereof and adjacent the top. The electric lamp 2! is connected to any suitable sourceof current, suchas-a 110 volt house line or the like, by means of a-cord 28. A suitable shield or reflector 29 should be provided over the lamp 2'! so as to protect the players eyes trom the glare of'the light and toreflect'the light downwardly "and forwardly onto the score board, over the runways between the flexible fingers H and '15 andinto -the archway H.

The bottom edge of the backstop 25 is provided with notches 3| which extend transversely therethrough, receiving the flexible fingers H. The lower corner edges of the backsto 25 are notched at both ends at 32 to receive the flexible fingers l5. The'backstop 25,:as-illustratedin Fig. 4, is slidably detachable from the upright rigid back support 5, and is held in place by brackets 6 and l.

The operation of the game and receptacle is as follows:

The disassembled golf receptacle has the backstop '25 removed from the back support 5 and lying in a horizontal position between the bottom of the rigid back support '5 and the lower side of the archway I'E, between'fingers i I and [5. The backstop 25 is of the same length as the space between the flexible fingers l5 and of the same width as the space between the rigid back support and the inside of the arch II. The forward face of the backstop is grooved at Si! in alignment with the fingers II.

It will thus be seen that when the backstop 25 is laid down into this packed position, it serves to give rigidity and protection to the flexible fingers H and 15 as well as to the archway H. The archway I! in turn will serve to give protection to the lamp 2?, and the entire packed unit thus can be enclosed in a small rectangular box.

To assemble the receptacle for playing the putting game, the backstop 25 is merely moved up from its packed position and is slid into the brackets 6 and 1, as shown in Fig. l. The assembled receptacle is then placed upon a suitable surface, such as a carpet, floor, grass or the like which preferably should be perfectly level, but of course may be contoured as desired by the individual player.

'As in a conventional game'of golf, .th'e golfball is putted toward the assembled'r'ecepta'cle which now is used to assume the similarity of the cup-on a golf green. The individual arches or sections N of the main archway ll,when viewed from a short distance by a putter, will simulate the curved lip of the-cup'and will serveasa slghting guide for the aim of the'ball.

Obviously, the objectof the gameis to direct the ball as close to the cup as possible with one putt, which, in the present instance, would be the runway designated on the scoreboard by the numeral 1. Should the putters aim be slightly off and the runway 1 be missedthe ball'will first strike the swinging finger 24, to a very sensitive' degree, will give the ball a comparable deflection as would be received by a slig-ht misjudgment 'of direction or speed on theputting green. Further, the flexible fingers l l and I5 not only will serve to give the vputted ball this same deflection, but also will serve to retard the roll of the ball, as would be given thereto by the drag of the surface of the green in a-conventional game.

The object of the game, of course, is to putt the ball into the runwaydesigna'ted'by the numeral l in as few stro'kes as possible and if the putters aim is bad and the ball rolls into either of the runways designated by the numeral 2 or 3, the corresponding numeral would indicate the number of putts required to reach the cup. Of course, suitable rules may be made to suit the game being played, as the primary object of this game is to 'improveones putting skill and to entertain the player.

It is to be understood that variations in form, material and structure of this device may be re sorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

'1. A golf putting game receptacle comprising an upright rigid back support having side portions, brackets carried upon the sides of the back support, runway guides anchored at one end to the back support and being free at the opposite end, an upright backstop having notches in the bottom edge thereof "in aligned relation to the guides, said backstop being slidably interfitted within the brackets carried upon the sides o'i'the back support and over the runway guides, an arch fixed to the free ends of two of the runway guides, said arch being formed of a plurality of segments interconnected at abutting points, and swinging pins suspended from said segments at said abutting points, each of said pins being spaced from and positioned in alignment with and adjacent the free ends of some of the guides, the lower ends of said pins being spaced above the lowermost surfaces of said guides a distance less than the diameter of a golf ball, so as to deflect slightly a misdirected ball.

2. A golf putting game receptacle comprising an upright rigid back support having side portions, brackets carried upon the sides of the back support, flexible runway guides anchored at one end to the back support and being free at the opposite end, an arch fixed to the free ends of two of the runway guides, said arch being formed of a plurality of segments interconnected at abutting points, swinging pins suspended from the segments at said abutting points, each of said pins being spaced from and positioned in alignment with and adjacent the free ends of some of said guides, the lower ends of said pins being spaced above the lowermost surfaces of said guides a distance less than the diameter of a golf ball, so as to deflect slightly a misdirected ball, and a detachable backstop having notches in the bottom edge thereof in aligned relation to the flexible guides and adapted to embrace the same when in an upright position, said backstop having sight grooves in the surface thereof extending from the notches to the opposite edge of said backstop, said grooves being in alignment with the runway guides to serve as sight means for said guides when the backstop is in an assembled position, said backstop being slidably interfitted within the brackets carried upon the sides of the back support and of a length so as to fit between the back support and arch when said game is disassembled and packaged.

3. A golf putting game receptacle comprising an upright rigid backstop having a lamp thereon positioned to illuminate said receptacle, forwardly extending runway guides anchored at one end to the backstop, some of said guides being free at the opposite end, an arch supported on some of the guides and extending above said free ends and swinging pins suspended from said arch, each of said pins being in alignment with a guide and spaced therefrom with the lower end thereof being spaced from the lowermost surface of said guide a distance less than the diameter of a golf ball, so as to deflect slightly a misdirected ball.

4. A golf putting game receptacle comprising an upright rigid backstop, forwardly extending runway guides anchored at one end to the backstop, some of said guides being free at the opposite end, an arch supported on other of the guides and extending above said free ends, and swinging pins suspended from the arch, each of said pins being spaced from and positioned in front of the free ends of the runway guides, the lower ends of said pins being spaced above the lowermost surfaces of said guides a distance less than the diameter of a golf ball, so as to deflect slightly a misdirected ball.

5. A golf putting game receptacle comprising an upright rigid backstop, forwardly extending runway guides anchored at one end to the backstop and at least some of the guides being free at the ends opposite the backstop, a flexible arch aflixed to some of the runway guides, and depending fingers suspended from said flexible arch with the lower ends thereof spaced above the lowermost surface of said runway guides a distance less than the diameter of a golf ball, said fingers being in swinging relation to the arch and in alignment with the guides to deflect a misdirected ball.

6. A golf putting game receptacle comprising an upright rigid backstop, forwardly extending runway guides anchored at one end to the backstop, at least some of the guides being free at the opposite ends thereof, a flexible arch affixed to the ends of the outside runway guides, said arch comprising a plurality of members arranged in interconnected abutting relationship forming connected abutting ends, and swinging pins suspended from the abutting connecting ends, each of said pins being in alignment with a guide, the lower ends of said pins being spaced above the lowermost surface of said runway guide a distance less than the diameter of a golf ball, so as to deflect slightly a misdirected ball.

'7. A golf putting game receptacle comprising an upright rigid backstop having a lamp in position to illuminate said receptacle, "runway guides extending forwardly from the backstop, some of the guides having free ends, an arch aifixed to the ends of the outside runway guides, said arch including a plurality of sections in interconnected abutting relationship forming interconnected abutting contact ends, and swinging pins suspended from the abutting connecting ends, each of said pins being in alignment with a guide, the lower ends of said pins being spaced above the lowermost surface of said runway guide a distance less than the diameter of a golf ball, so as to deflect slightly a misdirected ball.

8. A golf putting game receptacle comprising an upright rigid back support having side portlons, brackets carried upon the sides of the back support, flexible runway guides anchored at one end to the back support and being free at the opposite end, an upright backstop having notches in the bottom'edge thereof in aligned relation to the flexible guides and a lamp carried thereupon in position to illuminate said receptacle, said backstop being slidably interfitted within the brackets carried upon the sides of the back support and over the flexible runway guides, an arch fixed to the free ends of two of the runway guides, said arch being formed of a plurality of segments intermediate the ends thereof and in interconnected relationship forming abutting points, and swinging pins suspended from said abutting points, each of said pins being spaced from and positioned in alignment with and in front of the free ends of some of the guides, the lower ends of said pins being spaced above the lowermost surfaces of said runway guides a distance less than the diameter of a golf ball, so as to deflect slightly a misdirected ball.

WILLIAM BARNETT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 985,004 Burtis Feb. 21, 1911 1,223,256 Coffman Apr. 17, 1917 1,708,101 Kornsweet Apr. 9, 1929 1,893,402 Ehrlich Jan. 3, 1933 2,224,730 Hess Dec. 10, 1940 

